Chapter 11

NOTE: This is a translation of a Chinese HP fanfiction by 墨玉绿

BETA: the great and wonderful Paperthins.

December 1932

Billy Stubbs thought that something had changed while he wasn't looking.

For example, Tom didn't avoid them anymore. For example, Harry no longer looked at the floor while speaking to Tom. For example, Harry brought Tom a new box of crayons, which Tom treasured greatly, hiding it at a safe place away from Billy.

Billy was very unsatisfied with the new developments. He begged Harry until the man brought him crayons too, but... it wasn't the same.

See, he really liked Harry; but then any orphan would… even the freaky Tom Riddle. This was because Harry was the best adoptive parent that any child could hope for. The man was young, gentle, patient, and considerate. He never raised his voice against them, even when the children played rowdy games inside the new house.

And so, it was important for Billy to keep Harry's affection all to himself—a sentiment, which he firmly believed, was also shared by Riddle. And that, he thought, was simply unacceptable. Holding his pet rabbit as always, Billy stood on the top of the stairs, inspecting the house that ought to belong to him. He stroked the rabbit's fur, preoccupied by his own thoughts.

There was no need to worry. He could handle a four years old Tom Riddle, because Tom Riddle was a freak—an unmistakable monster who will never be accepted. If Billy wanted, he could expose Tom anytime and send the boy packing back to the orphanage. One child was enough for Harry—Billy could easily make it happen, if only he could trick Tom into revealing his unnatural abilities.

"Harry! Harry, I want to listen to a story." Billy leaned back on his bed, one hand holding the rabbit, the other tagging on Harry's shirt persistently.

Harry acquiesced. He turned to ask Tom, who was lying on the opposite bed. "How about you, Tom?"

From the corner of his eyes, Tom noticed the jealous hatred flashing across Billy's face. It pleased him, so although Tom had no interest in fairytales, he nodded at Harry.

"Ok... How about The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde?"

"Harry— " Billy interrupted. "Do giants really exist?"

Tom's mocking, black eyes fixed on Billy's face, taking in the boy's curious, expectant expression; only an idiot would believe that fairytales creatures are real.

"Of course they do," Tom's disdain was cut short by Harry's words. "They live in another world."

For Harry, Billy's question brought up memories of the past. Speaking of giants, the first thing that popped into his mind was the image of Hagrid the half-giant, with his bushy beard trembling as he laughed throatily.

Tom was transfixed by the warm smile that appeared on Harry's lips. Its gentle curves caught within his ebony eyes, captivatingly beautiful as Tom stared unmoving, as if that smile somehow managed to turn him into stone.

"Harry, I don't want to listen to The Selfish Giant. Instead, tell me more about giants." Billy begged. He even turned to Tom for help. "Tom wants to know more about giants too. Don't you, Tom?"

Billy's question snapped Tom from his mesmerised staring. The boy blinked, ebony eyes flashing with wants.

"Yes," he replied absentmindedly.

Harry smiled. "Alright. Once upon a time, there was a boy, whose mother was a giant and his father a human. So he grew up smaller than all the giant children, but bigger than all the human children. His palms are as big as fans, like this big—"

"Wow!" Billy yelled, eyes wide. "Cool!"

Billy's wide-eyed expression reminded Harry of his first trip on the Hogwarts Express, of the same surprised look on Ron's face when Harry showed him his scar. The memory made Harry smile again and he couldn't help but reach out to rub the boy's hair.

"Actually, it isn't so cool." Harry continued bitterly. "The giants took one look at him and said he wasn't one of them. The humans said the same. Being rejected twice… isn't so cool, after all."

"Then what happened?"

"Then luckily, the boy got accepted into a school. The old Headmaster treated him well, helped him, and forgave him even when he made mistakes. Even after the boy was expelled, the kind Headmaster took him in, and charged him with protecting the school."

And so the half-giant half boy continued to protect the school, even to this day, even when the school was almost overrun with Death Eaters. He protected the school even when his life was in danger.

Tom noticed the wistful and melancholy expression on Harry's face and suddenly, he knew he disliked that giant fellow, even if they had never met before and he was not real.

"If he was bigger than all the humans, why didn't he just conquer them? If he ruled over them, they would have to accept him—" Tom stated his question like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This was the first in a long time that Tom had taken an interest in their discussions; it was also the first time he had addressed a question directly to Harry.

Harry didn't know whether to be flattered by the attention or concerned. Or perhaps I should commend the young Dark-Lord-to-be for thinking about the big picture, Harry thought drily.

"Tom, acceptance cannot originate from fear, but from respect." Harry said solemnly as he looked into the boy's curious eyes, as bright as stars in the night sky.

Tom's dark eyes clashed with green ones. He lifted his chin proudly, nonverbally expressing his disagreement—because to the four years old child, respect was utterly useless. In fact, all positive emotions were useless, including love, empathy, responsibility. They were, to Tom, no more than false ornaments of society, all of which would so easily shatter in face of true adversity and danger.

On the other hand, negative emotions were the only effective ones. They were more threatening and therefore persuasive. Fear, dread, and anger were all great motivators— they would help Tom obtain and consolidate power, which was how he survived at the orphanage.

"I want to go to sleep!" Billy exclaimed, deliberately breaking their moment. He tugged at Harry's hand, forcing the man to turn his eyes away from Tom. Behind Harry's back, Tom gave Billy a warning glare, and his fingers ran across the scales of his viper that had silently appeared around his wrists. The older boy stiffed; he seemed to have gotten the massage.

Harry stood up and helped them adjust the flames that burned brightly in the furnace.

"Yes, you two should go to sleep."

Suddenly, Billy reached out his arms and whined loudly. "Harry, my goodnight kiss."

Harry lowered his head and pressed his lips against the boy's forehead. "Alright... goodnight."

He turned and saw Tom sitting on his bed. The boy's posture stiffened proudly. Harry hesitated; he couldn't quite imagine himself kissing Voldemort goodnight. His fleeting hesitation did not escape notice by either boys.

Billy chose this unfortunate moment to shout at them.

"Harry, you forgot Tom's goodnight kiss!"

Harry smiled wryly, and thought he could escape the situation by joking about it; yet as he looked at Tom, his heart tightened as soon as he caught sight of the dark haired boy.

At first glance, the boy's face looked calm, a careful mask of serenity, as if he hadn't heard them at all. However upon looking more closely, Harry could see Tom's thin shoulders slumping with disappointment. But ,of course, Tom would never complain. The child would never ask, let alone beg to anyone for anything, no matter how much he wanted it.

Harry berated himself. Before he fully realized, his body acted before his brain. He bent forward, until he was at the eye-level with the child, and brushed strands of black hair from the pale face. Harry gave Tom a quick peck on the forehead, lips tender and warm against cool skin.

"Goodnight, Tom. Sweet dreams," Harry said, then left.

Tom remained seated on his bed for a long time, his own hands pressed against his forehead, seemingly frozen into place.

Carefully, the snake poked her head from his sleeves, while trying to avoid Billy's inquisitive glaze and hissed in Tom's ears. "Tom, are you alright? You are acting weird—"

Tom's mask had been dangerously close to cracking, before his face immediately became blank again. He ran his long slender fingers through his hair and let his bangs fall back in place. Then, he lay down in bed and went to sleep. He never answered her question directly, although he did award the snake with a strange, unreadable look before dozing off. Whatever that meant, she thought.

Everything seemed to be going well. As they grew more familiar with each others' routines, they almost seemed like a real family.

Frustrated, Billy discovered that he couldn't trick Tom into revealing his abilities. Originally he had thought it would be easy to provoke Tom, but now he discovered that the four-years-old had impeccable self-control; nothing, no amount of insult or abuse, could make the child lose grip of his anger. Tom's boyish, handsome face wore the prefect mask, impenetrable like the disguise of the devil. His eyes regarded Billy with cold mockery, as if the older boy was merely a clown at the circus, unworthy of any attention except to be laughed at. It made Billy angry.

"Freak," Billy whispered to his rabbit, as he continued to stroke its fur.

Tom never thought much of Billy.

Oh, he knew what the boy was up to, alright. That idiot wanted to coerce him into show his true powers. If Harry saw it, the young man would join Billy together in accusation; pointing at Tom and screaming, "Freak! Freak!" Tom clutched his fists, a mad grin twisting his sharp face into madness. He wasn't afraid of the things that people said about him, even if… Tom didn't care even if Harry would join them, he decided. All he desired was to become the most powerful of them all— then Tom would sit atop his throne, staring down as they lay trembling by his feet, bowing to the-one-who-is-a-freak.

He smirked. Not yet; right now, he must be patient for he needed more power. He had to stay here, in the best environment possible until he grows more powerful, enough to survive on his own. In case Harry ever found out that he was a freak; in case the young man ever betrays Tom, he must grow powerful enough to muster the strength to kill him. Betrayal would result in death; this was all logical in his young mind.

The boy's eyes flashed. His murderous, grim expression scared even the little snake, which quickly slithered into his pocket.

"Tom, are you ready to go?"

On the second floor, the boy stood staring down at the smiling young man, through the space between carved handrails of the stairs. Tom licked his lips, eyes latched on Harry's face. For the first time in his young life, Tom thanked Fortune— yes, it indeed was a good thing that Harry didn't know the truth.

Tom then looked at Billy who stood beside Harry, holding the dumb rabbit, and his eyes turned darker still. He walked down the stairs, with slow and deliberate steps.

Yes, it was a good thing that Harry doesn't know the truth, and Tom was determined to keep it that way!

"Harry, can people make things fly?" Billy asked loudly, glaring at Tom out of the corner of his eyes. He grabbed his rabbit with one hand, and tugged onto Harry's hand with the other.

Harry nodded, surprised. Shouldn't this question be from Tom?

"Why, yes, of course."

Billy frowned in puzzlement at the unexpected answer.

"First hold a small bird in your hands, then... just let go. It'll fly away, see?" Harry chuckled at his own joke, emerald eyes warm and bright.

Through the lens of his round glasses, Harry's eyes glinted with a mischievous joy. The laughter coloured his normally pale cheeks with a lovely rosy shade and made the man look younger, livelier. Tom wrapped his fingers around Harry's other hand; eyes unable to look away from the man's face.

Billy opened his mouth, but they had arrived at their destination. Tom stood behind Harry, and glared at the other boy, cold eyes sending chills down Billy's spine. Billy clutched his pet tighter and inched closer to Harry.

Suddenly Tom smiled at the newcomer, a wonderfully sweet smile that looked adorable on the his young face.

"Tom, Billy. Meet Headmaster Marco," Harry gently nudged them forward. "You'll be attending his school soon, right after Christmas."

However an incident happened right before Christmas, and changed everything.

"Hey, Toooom," Billy cooed mockingly. "Would you be more upset to return to the orphanage before or after Christmas?" He stroked lovingly at the rabbit in his arms. The poor creature's leg was bandaged as it trembled under its master's touch, as if the rabbit understood the boy's devious plans.

Tom sat still on his bed. His face grew increasingly darker with suppressed anger; a dangerous storm brewing in his black eyes.

Outside their bedroom window a carriage stopped, as the horses screeched to a halt. The front gates immediately clicked open.

Billy grinned. "Harry's carriage is back. Too bad you can't spend Christmas with us Tom, because... because you tried to kill my poor, defenceless bunny."

He squeezed the rabbit's injured leg. It squealed, and desperately tried to leap away from him.

"Tom, are you familiar with concept of frame up?" The boy sounded casual, pleasant, as if he was merely discussing the weather.

Tom clutched his duvet, his knuckles white, lips tight with anger. He did not reply.

Then ,suddenly, everything in the room started to shake, like in an earthquake. Scattered around their beds, loose papers and books shook and rose into the air.

"FREAK!" Billy screamed in delight. He stood up, arms around the rabbit, in midst of the swarm of levitating furniture, a panicked expression on his face. He looked around wildly, as objects zoomed by, almost smashing into him. Billy's face held a look of terror, yet his eyes hid a satisfied glint.

This ought to be enough to get rid of Tom!

Harry heard Billy's scream all the way from the living room. He gave a worried shout; the children could hear footsteps rushing on the staircase.

As furniture floated in the air, Billy looked up at them. A devious smirk grew on his lips.

"Tom, it looks like... you've lost."

Reviews are extremely appreciated so we can know how to make the fic more enjoyable for you, the readers :)

Poor Harry, all the psychos seem rather fond of him... Good-luck!

from the beta: hope you guys liked this chapter! dun dun dun dun… what's going to happen to Tom now?